


Sick

by sophinisba



Category: Children of Men (2006)
Genre: 1000-5000 Words, Character of Color, Dark Agenda Challenge, Gen, Immigration & Emigration, Pre-Canon, Pregnancy, Prostitution, Yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-24
Updated: 2009-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-05 05:28:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophinisba/pseuds/sophinisba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kee insisted on going by herself.  Maybe it wasn't a good place anymore, but there was no sense in both of them getting caught.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sick

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lila Futuransky (futuransky)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/futuransky/gifts).



Chinwe gave her the address of the clinic, said they didn't do the fertility tests for the government and they wouldn't ask for any papers. They had a 'suggested donation' but if you couldn't pay then they would still see you. Chinwe said she went in every three months. Usually there wasn't even anything wrong with her, but it was someone to talk to and they gave out free condoms.

That was way back when she first got here, when she was still sleeping on the street some nights, before she met Tawia and they found a room to share at an old lady's house.

Chinwe was smart. She'd been here six years already, and she had all the best tips on how to get customers, how not to lose them, how not to get caught. Kee thought if she was going to follow anyone's advice it should be hers.

Still, the thought of getting up on a table and spreading her legs for some man who wasn't even going to pay her made Kee nervous, and she felt all right, so she didn't bother.

*

Sometimes she'd get an itching or a pain, a something she just did her best not to think about. She still had to eat so she kept on working, just made extra sure they'd put on the condoms and not try to get away with something funny.

*

This time when she got sick she knew right away it was something different. Tawia thought so too, but neither of them could figure out what it was. By that time no one had seen Chinwe for almost a year, so they couldn't ask for her advice either. Probably she got picked up in a raid, though they liked to pretend some customer liked her so much he decided to marry her and take her home to live in a fancy house, and she'd never have to worry anymore about someone turning her in. That was what they always said about the girls who disappeared.

Kee had lost the paper with the address on it a long time before that, but she still remembered where it was.

Tawia wanted to go with her but Kee insisted on going by herself. Maybe it wasn't a good place anymore, but there was no sense in both of them getting caught. "If I don't come back, tell the girls I found a customer who liked me just that much," said Kee. "And don't worry about me. I'll get through it all right." Kee always did get through it. She might not be the smartest one but she took care of herself.

She thought she'd have to talk to a secretary in the doctor's office, fill out a form or explain why she couldn't afford the suggested donation, but instead of an office it was just a flat with two little rooms. There was no old man in a white coat and no secretary with a clipboard, just one white woman with her hair done up in dreads like a black girl. Kee started to laugh and covered her mouth so she wouldn't make her angry. Then she thought, fuck it, and laughed out loud.

"What can I help you with?" the woman said. She looked serious, a little disapproving, but not mean. Tired, maybe a little bored. She said her name was Miriam, and Key liked that, even though she didn't like the look of her very much. Miriam was the kind of name some of the girls at home had. And she liked that she got to sit on the couch with her clothes on for now, even though there was an examining table on the other side of the room.

"I don't know what it is," said Kee. "Couple of weeks ago I started getting sick, throwing up every little thing I eat."

"Could it have been something you ate? Did you have anything out of the ordinary?"

"No," said Kee. "I've had that before, but this is something different. I told you, it's every day."

The woman nodded but Kee wasn't sure she was listening. "Do you have a boyfriend, a husband?"

"No, we broke up a little while ago," Kee lied easily.

"What about family?"

"No, not here. I've got a roommate, my girlfriend, she knows I've been sick, but she doesn't know what it is either."

Kee thought the woman's face changed when she heard that, like maybe she wasn't so tired after all. Like she wanted to know if _girlfriend_ meant girlfriend or just girl friend, but she wasn't going to ask because she was being professional.

Instead she asked when was the last time Kee had her period, then asked if she had sex with her boyfriend since then.

They did like that, doctors and social workers and researchers and volunteers. They'd ask you the kind of questions nobody else could get away with, but they'd ask it and take notes, like it was part of their job to know, so if you didn't answer it was your fault, because you were old-fashioned, old-country, superstitious, primitive.

Or if you didn't want to answer they wanted you to get up on the table.

*

When she was done poking around and Kee had her clothes on again Miriam was serious, not bored at all now. She said Kee should go home, pack up whatever she needed, and come back straight away. Miriam was going to talk to make some calls.

"Pack up what?" said Kee. "Who are you calling? What are you going to do?"

"You should say goodbye to your friend, at least," Miriam said. "And the father…if he's someone you trust, he should be informed. But if you don't want to tell him that's all right, we can still help you." She paused. "This will matter to a whole lot of people. It's best if you don't tell anyone you don't really trust."

Kee looked her in the eye and said, "What makes you think I trust you?"


End file.
